JYM Alumni News Spring 2007 ─ A Newsletter for Alumni and Friends of the Junior Year in Munich JYM Awards First FDR Scholarship JYM is pleased to announce that the first Dr. Marianne Riegler Endowed Scholarship has been awarded to Elyse Iverson, a Studio Arts major at the University of Pittsburgh. Elyse is extremely excited about studying art in Munich and specifically about actually painting in Germany. Elyse’s passion for studying in Munich with JYM is deep-rooted. Her mother was a JYM student thirty years ago and Elyse says she grew up “hearing about my mother’s life-changing experiences abroad.” She has been waiting for this experience since elementary school and is beyond excited that “it is now finally happening.” Thanks to alumni and friends of JYM who contributed to the Dr. Marianne Riegler Endowed Scholarship Fund (which now stands at $56,000), Elyse writes that the $1200 scholarship will allow her to “realize my dreams” when she arrives in September for the 2007-08 JYM program. JYM Alumni News Mark Ferguson, Director Junior Year in Munich Wayne State University 471 Manoogian Hall Detroit MI 48202
Dear Alumni & Friends of JYM, We hope you enjoy our new bi-annual alumni newsletter. Each issue will spotlight individual stories of “life after JYM,” as well as news from the current JYM program . Please feel free to email us news you ‘d like to have included in the fall issue (JYM@wayne.edu). Mark Ferguson JYM Program Director
In Memoriam: One of many photos taken for JYM by George Beverst (JYM1954-55), the first recipient of a JYM scholarship, who passed away at age 77 in 2007.
Scholarship Fund honors Professor Schindler In memory of her late husband Professor Marvin Schindler (1932-2003), Professor Roslyn Abt Schindler, Chair of Wayne State University’s Department of Interdisciplinary Studies, has established the Marvin S. Schindler Endowed Junior Year in Munich Scholarship Fund. As Director of Wayne State’s Junior Year in Germany programs from 1975 to 1993, “Marvin had a fierce commitment to foreign language and culture education, in particular the junior year abroad experience,” says Professor Roslyn Abt Schindler, “He was absolutely devoted to the Junior Year in Germany programs, at that time both in Freiburg and in Munich. They were the joy and passion of his professional career. I wanted to do something very special in his memory on the occasion of his 75th birthday on January 2, 2007. The Scholarship Fund is the most appropriate way that I can honor him, and I am so grateful to those who have already contributed to the Fund in Marvin’s memory. It truly warms my heart--and I know it would Marvin’s as well--to know that future generations of JYM students will benefit from the Fund and that Marvin’s name and contributions will live on.” Read more Donors Stories on the alumni section of the JYM website. www.jym.wayne.edu
Tel (313) 577-4605 JYM@wayne.edu Junior Year in Munich an der Universität München – a Distinguished Tradition since 1953
JYM Chronicles Email us Your Story of life after JYM and we’ll publish as many as we can. Email us at JYM@wayne.edu
JYM inspires International Career “I just wanted to send you a huge THANK YOU for your JYM Job Board online. I just received a job offer from Bosch-Siemens using the site and will be leaving in July 2007 for Munich to work as a Management Trainee. I will be spending 12 months in Munich before moving back to Huntington Beach, California ... this is exactly the kind of position I was hoping to find!! Again, thanks for updating that board, and please continue to do so for my fellow post-JYM job seekers.” -- Tyler Christesen (JYM 2005-06)
Now in its fifth year, the JYM Job Board continues to help recent graduates and seasoned alumni find opportunities to put their German language skills and overseas experiences to good use - and get paid for it! You can read more Job Board Testimonials on the alumni section of the JYM website at www.jym.wayne.edu
Cynthia Meurling (JYM1998-99) writes that shortly after her JYM experience, she began to pursue an internationally-focused career: “I returned to Tufts for my senior year, then departed to Gabon, Central Africa with the Peace Corps where my German skills certainly assisted me in learning French! I served as a Community Health Volunteer from 2000-02, and then worked in NYC with an international reproductive health organization, Family Care International. I subsequently returned to schooling for my masters in public administration in international management from the Monterey Institute of International Studies in California, and currently work at IntraHealth International in Chapel Hill, NC. I work with the Capacity Project - a five year, global, USAIDfunded human capacity building project - and among my countries include Namibia (formerly German Southwest Africa), given to me specifically for my German language competency. I have the fondest memories of my time with JYM, and thank you and everyone involved for that!”
Random Room Assignment leads to Children’s Book Business for Bilingual Families When Sarah (Abramson) Mueller arrived in Munich with JYM the fall of 1993 and received her random room assignment in StuStadt, she never imagined that she would marry the “charming German student” living on her floor. “Coincidence? Auf keinen Fall! I prefer to think of it as Schicksal! Fast forward several years and we were married with a young son living in suburban New Jersey. Of course we would raise our child bilingually! Being avid readers, German books were a must. However, I found it very difficult to shop for my baby. U.S. bookstores didn’t have any idea of the kinds of German books I wanted. Our Oma sent wonderful packages but they took so long to arrive.” So Sarah opened Alphabet Garten in the spring of 2002 with an eye towards helping other bilingual families find German books and multimedia for children. Today her home-based business imports titles from Europe, especially those popular right now with kids in Germany, including German storybooks, children’s music, classic children’s literature and other educational materials. Sarah still has the original note that “my handsome German neighbor” stuck to her door the very first day in Munich: “And what a wonderful journey it has been!” You can follow Sarah’s Blog on the web at www.Alphabet-Garten.com
JYMer leads Urban Redevelopment Initiative in Eastern Germany Matt Rao (JYM 2003-04) returned to the US in November 2006 after 15 months as a Humboldt Foundation Bundeskanzler Fellow working in the City Planning Division in Halle (Sachsen-Anhalt). Matt’s research project on “Urban Redevelopment Practices in American and East German Shrinking Cities” led him to “some unexpected and pretty exciting directions,” he writes, “the best of which was the founding of a nonprofit Verein called HausHalten to connect artists and small business start-ups with the owners of vacant buildings – many of which date back to the Gründerzeit” (www.haushaltenhalle.de). In exchange for maintaining general upkeep (electricity, water, roof repair, etc.), stakeholders such as artists, architects and other organizations will be allowed to live in the abandoned houses rent-free for up to ten years. These so-called Häuser Wächter will protect vacant houses from vandalism and ensure their preservation until suitable investors are found. Matt was first introduced to JYM as a Munich Summer Fellow in 2002 during his sophomore year at the University of Pennsylvania. While on the program the following year, JYM arranged for him an internship at the Bundestag in Berlin. Immediately upon graduation Matt was awarded the prestigious Bundeskanzler Stipendium which brought him back once again to Germany. “I had a great time in Halle and can certainly see myself back there in the next couple of years, maybe working on a project to develop better financing structures for nonprofits in Germany,” adds Matt. In the meantime, he is now in Brooklyn working for a non-profit corporation involved in community development.
“Hello from an old JYMer who has you all to thank for where I've gotten today!”
Grüss Gott
NACHRICHTEN AUS MÜNCHEN
Excerpts from the 2005-06 JYM Illustrated yearbook “What is it like to live in Germany’s ‘most livable city’? ... We have transitioned through four seasons, through holidays, big events, and the most common of days. We have involved ourselves in this community and made it our temporary home.”
“Welcome to Studentenstadt Es war meine erste Nacht darin. Who knew there was even a possibility That I would get locked in? Don’t ask how it happened War wahrscheinlich wegen des Biers For it is ein bisschen stronger here in München, I fear.” “My cooking in StuStadt this year probably looked very similar to what the Neanderthals looked like as they attempted to master the technology of fire.”
“Der Englische Garten ist mein Lieblingsort in München. Am Besten ist da Fahrrad zu fahren oder in der Sonne zu liegen auf der grossen Wiese.”
Test your Bayerisch! Host mi? I mog di Des is mia wurscht I hät gern a Mass Pack’mas Schee wars!
Things to Do at the JYM Website Update your Address Request your JYM Transcript View/Post Upcoming Events Find Fellowships & Internships Explore the JYM Job Board Make a Gift to JYM Read Donors Stories
Questions about How You can Support JYM? JYM would like to take this opportunity to introduce to you Katie Clark, who has been assigned to assist JYM with development and alumni relations as one of her duties. Katie has been a fantastic help to us and we invite you to contact her if you’d like to explore giftgiving opportunities that benefit JYM. Kathryn (“Katie”) Clark Assistant Director of Development College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Watch the JYM Video! Visit the Alumni Section of the JYM website at www.jym.wayne.edu
Wayne State University 4841 Cass Ave 2155 Old Main Detroit MI 48201 Tel. (313) 577-9635 k.clark@wayne.edu